DAVOS, Switzerland – Taking a few weeks off from his senior year at Colby College, Jack Young is having quite a vacation skiing for the U.S. Ski Team on the World Cup. Last week in Lillehammer, Norway, Young qualified 25th and was 5th in his quarterfinal heat. Jack skied for North Country Union high school and the Craftsbury Ski Club. This week in Davos, Switzerland, a celebrated sprint venue, he qualified 28th. The top 30 skiers from the qualifier move on to five quarterfinal heats made up of six skiers each. The fastest two skiers from each heat plus the next two fastest skiers move on to the semi-finals.
photo by NordicFocus
Jack was in quarterfinal Heat 1 with three of the fastest skiers in the world, Johannes Klaebo (Norway), Lucas Chanavat (France), and teammate, Ben Ogden (Stratton, Vt.). Ogden’s strategy was go hard and not stop and hope for a top two finish, and if not, grab a lucky loser slot with the next fastest time. From FasterSkier, “Ogden took an aggressive lead from the start, with Chanavat and Klaebo maintaining their position on either side of him through much of the race. Looking smooth and composed on the second climb, Ogden maintained his position despite Klaebo trailing closely behind. Heading into the finishing stretch, Chanavat and Klaebo overtook Ogden on either side, securing first and second place finishes. Ogden and his teammate Young, who finished close behind in third and fourth, clocked the two fastest times of the day (two full seconds ahead of the fastest qualifying time), comfortably earning advancement as lucky losers.”
Young faced another highly competitive heat in the semifinal, lining up against five consistently top 10 sprinters. Young came out strong, staying with Klaebo and Chanavat on the first climb. The two veterans controlled the pace through both laps and finished 1st and 2nd to advance to the finals. Young faded a bit in the second lap and would finish 6th in the heat. FasterSkier noted that Young was beaming after finishing only his 5th World Cup. “Moving onto the semi, I knew I had to do the same thing (hammer from the gun) if I wanted to get through, but I ran out of gas,” Young shared. “I’m not exactly surprised; my quarterfinal was quite taxing!”
The Americans had strong results with four athletes finishing well with Ben Ogden making the final heat but finishing 6th, Jack Young in 12th, and teammates Gus Schumacher 11th and J.C. Schoonmaker 16th. I’m not sure when Jack gets to take his finals for the fall semester at Colby College, but my guess is that his professors are willing to be flexible.
